The Daily Brief – 27th October 2018

The Daily Briefs are a comprehensive update of current affairs for the day. If you’d like to receive updates for current affairs every day, you’ll need to subscribe by entering your email address at the right side of this page. The previous Briefs can be accessed at the archives here.

World Development Information Day (WDID) is observed every year on October 24 to draw attention of world to development problems and necessity of strengthening international cooperation to solve them. This day also coincides with United Nations Day (October 24). UN General Assembly (UNGA) on December 19, 1972 instituted World Development Information Day on October 24. Established in 1964 and with its permanent secretariat in Geneva, UN Conference on Trade and Development proposed this observance of this day.
The World Polio Day is observed annually across world on 24 October to create awareness about hazards of the crippling Polio disease. The day was instituted by Rotary International to commemorate birth of Jonas Salk who had led first team of researchers which had developed vaccine against poliomyelitis (polio virus). Subsequently oral poliovirus vaccine developed by Albert Sabin has come into use. Establishment of Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988 helped to reduce polio worldwide by 99%. Now, polio exists in two countries Pakistan and Afghanistan.
John Salk
India has won Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) Award, 2018. Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) under Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is institutional member of CAPAM. Unnayan Banka initiative for reinventing education using technology of Banka District, Bihar was awarded under Category “Innovation Incubation”. Unified Agriculture Markets of Karnataka Government was awarded in ‘Innovation in Public Service Management’. CAPAM is non-profit association located in over 50 different countries across the Commonwealth. CAPAM announces its International Innovations Awards (IIA) Programme bi-annually, since 1998.
Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) organised the second edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC-2018) in New Delhi from October 25-27, 2018 with a theme of “New Digital Horizons. Connect. Create. Innovate”. It saw participation of more than 200,000 professionals from telecom industry, encompassing 5G, start-up ecosystem, IoT, Big Data, AI, Smart Cities and allied industry sectors. IMC was launched in 2017 and the first IMC was held in September 2017.
Union Government (Ministry of Culture) has announced winners of Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for year 2014, 2015 and 2016.
2014: Rajkumar Singhajit Singh. He is doyen of Manipuri dance.
2015: Chhayanaut. It is cultural organization of Bangladesh established in 1961
2016: Ram Vanji Sutar. He is renowned sculptor.
It is annual award instituted by Government of India in 2011 as part of commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar on October 25, 2018 launched the web portal of the scheme – “Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)” in New Delhi with aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world. The scheme was sanctioned by the Indian Government in August 2018 at a total cost of Rs 418 crore.
India and Bangladesh on October 25, 2018 signed agreements for enhancing inland and coastal waterways connectivity for trade and cruise movements. Bangladesh agreed to open its Chattogram and Mongla ports for trade with India. The decisions were taken during the 19th Standing Committee meeting under ‘Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade’ (PIWTT) held at New Delhi.
China is planning to launch its own ‘artificial moon’ by 2020 to replace streetlamps and lower electricity costs in its urban areas. A city in China’s south-western Sichuan province, Chengdu, is developing “illumination satellites” that will shine in tandem with the real moon, but just eight times brighter. The illumination satellites are being developed by the Tian Fu New Area Science Society. China’s first man-made moon will launch from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan.